54 



DISEASES OF THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



castor oil or 2 to 3 compound cathartic pills. The whole treatment 

 should be repeated in two days and the feces should be mixed with 

 quicklime or burned. Sheep may be sent to the butcher in the 

 early stage, but their brains should be boiled or burned. Lambs 

 or yearlings should not be pastured in infested regions. 



Colic in the Horse. 



Colic signifies acute pain in the belly and may be due to many 

 causes, functional and organic. 



Symptoms. — Pawing, stamping, lying down and rolling and 

 rising again, looking at flanks, groaning and sweating. Intervals 

 of freedom from pain often. Frequent unsuccessful attempts to 

 urinate. Belly tense and distended in flanks; peristaltic sounds 

 often diminished or absent. Pulse and breathing rapid in par- 

 oxysms. It must be distinguished from hemoglobinuria (paralysis 

 of hind quarters and dark urine) ; from cystitis (characteristic 

 changes in urine) ; from enteritis and peritonitis (in which fever 

 is prominant), and from various other conditions which will be 

 noted under treatment. 



General Treatment. — This depends to some extent upon the 

 cause, but there are certain general indications for treatment com- 

 mon to the different kinds of colic. The patient should be put into 

 a box stall with plenty of bedding. Walking exercise may be 

 beneficial in mild cases of spasmodic colic, but in no others. Relief 

 of pain and spasm is secured by morphine under the skin (gr. 

 ii to v) with atropine (gr. i). When this treatment is not con- 

 venient, various antispasmodics and anodynes may be given in 

 drench in 1 pint of water, as laudanum, gii ; ether, §i ; chloroform, 

 3ii. In place of chloroform, the spirit of chloroform may be used 

 (§i). In mild cases opium may be dispensed with and the follow- 

 ing given: Aromatic spirit of ammonia, and ether, each §ii; spirit 

 of chloroform, gi; or chloral (§i) in a pint of linseed oil. In 

 flatulent colic, oil of turpentine (gss), carbolic acid (TTtx) may be 



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